Former Vice President Al Gore, left, sits next to San Francisco mayoral candidate Gavin Newsom during a public forum entitled "Reinventing Goverment-Again" in San Francisco Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003. Gore is endorsing Newsom for San Francisco's mayoral seat. Newsom, a Democrat, is in a runoff election with Green Party candidate Matt Gonzalez. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez) less

Former Vice President Al Gore, left, sits next to San Francisco mayoral candidate Gavin Newsom during a public forum entitled "Reinventing Goverment-Again" in San Francisco Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2003. Gore is ... more

Photo: MARCIO JOSE SANCHEZ

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Former Vice President Al Gore was in San Francisco Tuesday to campaign for Supervisor Gavin Newsom in the runoff for mayor next Tuesday.

"I am here because I'm passionately in favor of Gavin Newsom," said Gore,

famous for his lack of visible passion as a candidate on the national stage.

Gore flew into the city Tuesday and met with Newsom, Mayor Willie Brown and other local leaders for 90 minutes before an hour-long event at the Regency Center, which was part of Newsom's "Great Cities, Great Ideas," series of talks on local issues.

Ideas aside, the visit had everything to do with partisan politics. Gore is just the latest in a series of big-name Democrats who've backed Newsom in his race against fellow Supervisor Matt Gonzalez, a member of the Green Party.

The Democratic Party is concerned about what having a Green like Gonzalez as mayor would mean to party efforts in the area, said Jim Ross, Newsom's campaign manager.

"There have been mailings for the state party to let local Democrats know that (Newsom's) a strong Democrat," he added.

Gonzalez backers have been unhappy with Newsom's attempts to cast the officially nonpartisan mayor's race as a Greens-versus-Democrats battle.

Ross Mirkarimi, a Gonzalez spokesman, accused Newsom of "importing political consultants and bringing in Al Gore" in an attempt to win the election.

"What's next, the Pope?" he asked.

With Gore in town, Gonzalez backers -- protesting outside the Regency Center and marching in favor of their candidate in the Mission District -- tried to turn the partisan issue against Newsom in heavily Democratic San Francisco.

Outside the hall, protesters calling themselves "Democrats for Matt" waved signs and handed out flyers slamming Newsom for spending $500 to put his name on a slate mailer card put out by the local Republican Party in 2000, when George Bush beat Gore in the presidential election.

Newsom, who was running unopposed for supervisor, was endorsed by local Republicans, as was a ballot measure he supported that set customer service standards for city workers, said Jim Ross, his campaign manager.

Newsom "has given $15,000 to the state Democratic Party for voter efforts, " he said. "In San Francisco, Republicans have a history of endorsing Democrats. They're very different from the state and national organizations."

It's not unusual for political campaigns to sneak names onto an opposing campaign's contact list, in order to stay up to speed on news and events.

"Hello, I am a gay man who supports Terence because of his support of medical marijuana. Please tell me how I can help this week. Go Hallinan!!" The message was signed, "Jeff."

What Jeff -- uh, Prozan -- didn't realize was that her name appeared right on the top of the e-mail.

Hip to the ruse, Hallinan campaign spokeswoman Laurie Beijen was quick to respond:

"Thanks for your offer of help. We are having a campaign rally at Ocean Beach at Judah tonight at 10 PM- midnight. Please come and hold up a sign for Terence. Thanks!!"

There was no late-night Ocean Beach rally, and Prozan wasn't going, anyway. But she did continue her correspondence Monday morning:

"I just got your message and I was too late. Is there anything else I can do this week? I work, so I'm not available during the day or at 10p on a Sunday. Thanks. Jeff."

Hours later, Prozan was told she was found out.

"People make mistakes," she told The Chronicle. "I'm on a campaign. I'm just fighting fire with fire. ... When you're in a war, you always want to know what the other side is doing."

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Beijen, meanwhile, said she was more amused than upset. "It's too bad she found out," Beijen said Monday. "I was going to send her to the zoo tonight."

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